Stage Beauty (2004)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Conner R

  
  The ultimate gender confusion/sexual identity movie. I found myself liking this a great deal more than the beloved Shakespeare in Love (which I don't understand), it deals with theatre history in a way that isn't corny. Billy Crudup's performance is almost scary, his… More
  The ultimate gender confusion/sexual identity movie. I found myself liking this a great deal more than the beloved Shakespeare in Love (which I don't understand), it deals with theatre history in a way that isn't corny. Billy Crudup's performance is almost scary, his female withdrawals were extremely believable. I would say that the only bad parts of the movie are the exaggeration of some characters and the fact that there are a ridiculous amount of pointless subplots going on.

• Cynthia S

  
  One of my favorite Billy Crudup movies (the other-- Almost Famous). He does a fabulous performance where he is sexy, beautiful, sad and the audience truly connects with him on his venture to finding himself. Claire Danes is a perfect counterpart in her role. I don't know whom to… More
  One of my favorite Billy Crudup movies (the other-- Almost Famous). He does a fabulous performance where he is sexy, beautiful, sad and the audience truly connects with him on his venture to finding himself. Claire Danes is a perfect counterpart in her role. I don't know whom to recommend this film to, because I think a it is either a love or hate film...I loved it!

• Megan S

  
  I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I really wasn't sure what to expect going in but I enjoyed it. It was a little hard to get into but it picked up and sucked me in after a while.

• Cassandra M

  
  Stage Beauty is another adaptation of a play. Yawn? Well don't, because it also happens to make a highly successful transition from stage to screen thanks to the genius that is director Richard Eyre. It tells the tale of Ned (Billy Crudup), a young actor who specialises in… More
  Stage Beauty is another adaptation of a play. Yawn? Well don't, because it also happens to make a highly successful transition from stage to screen thanks to the genius that is director Richard Eyre. It tells the tale of Ned (Billy Crudup), a young actor who specialises in portraying women on stage. In a world where only men are allowed to tread the boards, Ned's "Desdemona" (from Shakespeare's Othello) is the closest thing 17th century audiences get to femininity in theatre. However, a young upstart in the form of Maria (played by Clare Danes) wants to change all that. She has a passion for drama and unfortunately the bisexual Ned. With the help of King Charles II (Rupert Everett), she may just get her wish, changing theatre forever, and hopefully pick up Ned on the way. When thinking of the themes of the film, many people dismiss it as a clone of Shakespeare in Love. This is unfair- the film is more thought provoking, substantial and better acted than the aforementioned Oscar snaffler. It explores themes of sexuality and gender with insight and intelligence as well as telling (and, in fact enthralling us with) a love story. As previously referred to, the acting is exceptional, especially the two leads (Danes and Crudup) who shine. The supporting cast is strong too, with Richard Griffiths as a heterosexual prequel to his role in Withnail and I, Tom Wilkinson brimming with quiet intensity as Betterton and Everett hamming it up wonderfully as the King. Even if it does end on a slightly trite note (not to give too much away, but its' "birth of method acting" shtick irritates), Stage Beauty is a funny, heart-warming and occasionally quite cerebral meditation on love and art. What more could any theatre, or film lover for that matter, want? And don't say Shakespeare In Love!

• Alice S

  
  Pretty nice but after watching the special features, I was appalled to know how little this movie was researched. Anachronisms don't work if you ground the rest of the film in reality.

• Drew S

  
  An annoying, pretentious, anemic drama about awkwardly-utilized crossdressing and Claire Danes. These two things spell certain doom for your movie, especially when used in tandem. Everyone in this movie sounds as if they inhaled helium and put on the most obnoxious accent… More
  An annoying, pretentious, anemic drama about awkwardly-utilized crossdressing and Claire Danes. These two things spell certain doom for your movie, especially when used in tandem. Everyone in this movie sounds as if they inhaled helium and put on the most obnoxious accent conceivable to the human ear. Try listening to that for an hour and a half.

• William D

  
  [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=black]Stage Beauty, starring Billy Crudup and Claire Danes as 17th-century actors in London, was a joy to see. The film isn't a masterpiece, but it deserved a lot more attention than it got when it was released.[/color][/size][/font]… More
  [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=black]Stage Beauty, starring Billy Crudup and Claire Danes as 17th-century actors in London, was a joy to see. The film isn't a masterpiece, but it deserved a lot more attention than it got when it was released.[/color][/size][/font] [img]http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/stagebeauty.jpg[/img] [color=black][size=3][font=Trebuchet MS]Thank goodness for DVDs. They allow films like this to get a second chance at life. [b]Stage Beauty certainly deserves a second chance.[/b][/font][/size][/color] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=black]Crudup plays Ned Kynaston, an actor in 1660s London who is celebrated for playing female roles. At the time, women were banned from the stage. Men either studied male or female roles and became expert in one or the other.[/color][/size][/font] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=black]Danes plays Ned's dresser. But she secretly dreams of being an actor herself. She eventually gets her chance in taverns, which apparently were less regulated than full-on theaters. But she soon also has a go at the full-fledged stage when the laws are changed.[/color][/size][/font] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=black]Rupert Everett has magnificent fun playing the king that changes the laws.[/color][/size][/font] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=black]It was fascinating to get a glimpse of what that world might have been like. The film takes on its richest depth when it tries to examine the identity confusion that Ned might have suffered from.[/color][/size][/font] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=black]As an example, Ned has a boyfriend (well played by Ben Chaplin, who strikes me as possibly a big up-and-comer -- watch for him in the future). But it doesn't appear that Ned is having the affair entirely of his own volition. He seems to have somewhere inside himself a sense that this is what a woman does. And perhaps he feels he has to complete his embodiment of a woman because he fears that he could only ever be loved as a woman, or a "man-woman," a term Ned uses once or twice.[/color][/size][/font] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=#000000]Things are not just complex for Ned. The boyfriend ends the relationship when Ned stops playing female roles. It turns out that he cannot make love to Ned without the feminine guise attached. So who was he in love with in the first place? And who was he making love to?[/color][/size][/font] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=#000000]When Ned gets more emotionally entwined with Danes' character, Maria, there's a fascinating scene where they try different sex positions, switching off playing the "man" and "woman" roles. They even try to suss out the identities at play when two men make love. This was a very daring scene. [/color][/size][/font] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=#000000]Danes plays it rather simply. But Crudup clearly sensed that they were touching the tips of huge icebergs. You could see how deep those icebergs went when his character silently registered on his face some of the deepest confusion I've ever seen an actor convey.[/color][/size][/font] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=#000000]Another brilliant and complex scene is when Ned tries to play a male role. He does it in front of the king, in part to try to rescue his career. Watching him struggle to maintain a male demeanor and then involuntarily inflect it with something feminine was gripping. It was then devastating to watch Ned come unglued as he realized that he couldn't play a man. On the basis of this scene alone, Crudup's performance warranted much more attention than it got.[/color][/size][/font] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=#000000]The film also contains a very funny supporting performance by Richard Griffiths (of History Boys fame), playing an affected fop of an aristocrat. And several other small roles are hilarious and interesting.[/color][/size][/font] [font=Trebuchet MS][size=3][color=#000000]Stage Beauty is definitely recommended![/color][/size][/font]

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]"Stage Beauty" takes place in Restoration England when women were forbidden from performing on the stage. This is very fortunate for Ned Kynaston(Billy Crudup), since he has become one of the most acclaimed actors around, playing women in the theatre.… More
  [font=Century Gothic]"Stage Beauty" takes place in Restoration England when women were forbidden from performing on the stage. This is very fortunate for Ned Kynaston(Billy Crudup), since he has become one of the most acclaimed actors around, playing women in the theatre. His latest role is Desdemona in Othello. His dresser, Maria(Claire Danes), has theatrical ambitions of her own and is starring as Desdemona in a less reputable establishment across the street. Her performance comes to the attention of King Charles II(Rupert Everett) who rules that women can perform on the stage, thus giving Kynaston some heated competition.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Stage Beauty" is an intelligent, witty film that is about an actor's craft and what goes into creating a role. There is also some very good historical and period detail. I especially liked that it did not avoid the characters' sexuality.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Billy Crudup, himself an acclaimed stage actor(I saw him in "Arcadia" on Broadway several years ago), does a very fine job. Rupert Everett is magnificiently sublime. But I am still trying to figure out Claire Danes. The supporting cast including Tom Wilkinson, Edward Fox and Ben Chaplin(where have you been?) help immensely. [/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]I cannot help but be reminded of the classic "Peking Opera Blues" but "Stage Beauty" is still an improvement over the mediocre "Shakespeare in Love" which also featured Rupert Everett. Overall, the movie is not a total success but several scenes do stand out.[/font]

• Sunil J

  
  A little too Shakespeare in Love but it's really fun and very romantic.

• Angela A

  
  This was surprisingly good.

• Moe E

  
  This is one of those movies whose plot is just bizarre enough to make it look interesting. Thankfully, the writing and the cast were up to the task and produced a truly enjoyable film. Good stuff...

• Leo L

  
  A personal favorite.

• FanGirl B

  
  Really fantastic film about the introduction of actresses to the world of theater. An outstanding film with outstanding acting.

Read all 13 featured audience ratings